Though ordinary aesthetics is self-evident as a principle, fruitful as a method, it remains partly undefined. It seems the major difficulty is to mark out its territory, so much so as, after Wittgenstein, it endorses the most part of what used to pertain to ethics. Our hypothesis is that starting from art forms may prove helpful in defining ordinary aesthetics; and the article suggests that short-story writing is a paradigmatic pathway to ordinary aesthetics as it is to the ethical (...) unsaid. (shrink)

The paper contains a short story which is inconsistent, essentially so, but perfectly intelligible. The existence of such a story is used to establish various views about truth in fiction and impossible worlds.

From the 1890s on, the atheist philosopher F. Nietzsche exerted a profound and enduring impact on Russian religious, cultural, and social reality. The religious philosopher V.S. Solov'ëv perceived Nietzsche's thought as an actual threat to Russian religious consciousness and his own anthropological ideal of Divine Humanity. He was especially preoccupied with the idea of the Übermensch since sometwo decades before the Nietzschean Übermensch was popularized in Russia, Solov'ëv had already developed his own interpretation of the sverkhchelovek.

We present an analysis of counterfactuals in terms of stories and combine it with an account similar to Walton’s account of truth in fiction to yield truth conditions for counterfactuals. We discuss unusual features of this account, and compare it to other main approaches. In particular, we argue that our analysis succeeds in accounting for counterpossibles and counterfactuals with true antecedents while the other two main approaches fail, and we give reasons for thinking that it is important to have (...) an adequate account of these two areas. (shrink)

The new concept of embodied cognition theories has been enthusiastically studied by the cognitive sciences, by as well as such disparate disciplines as philosophy, anthropology, neuroscience, and robotics. Embodiment theory provides the framework for ongoing discussions on the linkage between “low” cognitive processes as perception and “high” cognition as language processing and comprehension, respectively. This review gives an overview along the lines of argumentation in the ongoing debate on the embodiment of language and employs an ALE meta-analysis to illustrate and (...) weigh previous findings. The collected evidence on the somatotopic activation of motor areas, abstract and concrete word processing, as well as from reported patient and timing studies emphasizes the important role of sensorimotor areas in language processing and supports the hypothesis that the motor system is activated during language comprehension. (shrink)

The issue of words combinations draws attention of linguists starting from the second half of the XX c. until the present day. This study is focused on the research of semantic mechanisms of unusually combined lexemes and unexpected collocations in English postmodern short-short stories. Reconsideration of the literary past and ironic view on traditional poetic canons are reflected in postmodern literary texts due to the principles of postmodern poetics. Being distinctive feature of postmodern literature in general, uncertainty (...) creates multiplicity of meanings of entire literary text, as well as separate unexpected collocations, by means of unusually combined lexemes. The aim of the study is to elaborate the phenomenon of valence violation, created by unusually combined lexemes and unexpected collocations in English postmodern short-short stories. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to define the notion of valence and lexeme compatibility, to identify types of valence violation in lexemes combinations, and to provide their possible interpretation. Functioning in English postmodern short-short stories such language units widen boundaries of their usage and their combinatorial profile. Unusually combined lexemes focus the reader’s attention and provoke a cognitive mechanism of continuous searching for a hidden meaning of unexpected collocations and the general message of a literary text. In this research unusually combined lexemes are regarded as special markers of postmodern short-short story genre for which violation of text structure, violation of usual relations between lexemes in logic, semantic and syntactic aspects are quite common. (shrink)

Jewish short stories are explained from the viewpoint of many-valued logic. On the basis of some examples, we show, how their contents may be logically interpreted.

The photocycle of visual opsins is essential to maintain the light sensitivity of the retina. The early physical observations of the rhodopsin photocycle by Böll and Kühne in the 1870s inspired over a century's worth of investigations on rhodopsin biochemistry. A single photon isomerizes the Schiff‐base linked 11‐cis‐retinylidene chromophore of rhodopsin, converting it to the all‐trans agonist to elicit phototransduction through photoactivated rhodopsin (Rho*). Schiff base hydrolysis of the agonist is a key step in the photocycle, not only diminishing ongoing (...) phototransduction but also allowing for entry and binding of fresh 11‐cis chromophore to regenerate the rhodopsin pigment and maintain light sensitivity. Many challenges have been encountered in measuring the rate of this hydrolysis, but recent advancements have facilitated studies of the hydrolysis within the native membrane environment of rhodopsin. These techniques can now be applied to study hydrolysis of agonist in other opsin proteins that mediate phototransduction or chromophore turnover. In this review, we discuss the progress that has been made in characterizing the rhodopsin photocycle and the journey to characterize the hydrolysis of its all‐trans‐retinylidene agonist. (shrink)

This article analyses little-known short stories of modern Ukrainian writers Valerian Pidmohylny and Mykhailo Yatskiv in the context of the 20th century existentialism. It can be considered as a cultural phenomenon which combines philosophy with literature. Pidmohylny’s short stories were significantly influenced primarily by the ideas of the European philosophers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Therefore, we can search for similar motives in the works of Pidmohylny and the existentialists, which developed under the (...) influence of the ideas of Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche. Also, the authors consider Yatskiv’s short stories through the prism of the core concepts of existentialism, namely, fate and death. Pidmohylny and Yatskiv can be assigned to existential writers on the basis of retrospective analysis of the themes of their short stories and the thematic areas of 20th century existentialism. (shrink)

This selection of short stories in world literature by both classical and contemporary writers offers a window to a wide range of ethical questions. The target audience are students in humanities courses in high school or college. The stories are organized by regions and by themes. Each story is linked up with articles in newspapers and magazines that address the theme raised in the short story. A few guiding questions are included to start the discussion.

This study investigates the effectiveness of integrating short stories with task-based learning activities in English as a foreign language (EFL) class to promote vocabulary development and motivation among L2 learners. Six short stories were selected by the participants based on their interests, pre- and post-tests were conducted to evaluate vocabulary acquisition and a questionnaire was used to gather information about the perception of task-based activities after reading short stories among students. The study involved 60 (...) intermediate level English students at the SEEU Language Center, assigned to either the control or experimental group. The experimental group completed post-reading tasks such as keeping vocabulary notebooks, reading circle discussions, sequencing activities, plot structure understanding, and group poster presentations after reading each story. The findings suggest that the incorporating engaging reading activities had a favorable effect on language learning. The experimental group exhibited greater vocabulary acquisition and comprehension than the control group. The follow-up tasks created a sense of achievement, improved communication and interaction among the students. According to the study, including comprehensible input through extensive reading along with constructive output from task-oriented exercises can effectively promote language progress and enhance students’ motivation thus effectively facilitating language development in L2 learners. (shrink)

In online communication, writers incorporate into fictional representation imaginaries that arise from the interaction between various artistic manifestations. This paper explores the work of two spanish authors, Patricia Esteban Erlés and Albert Soloviev in order to study the social impact and ethical aspects of hypermedial short stories in the virtual space, since their works function as vehicles for social criticism. At the same time, the paper addresses fundamental questions associated with the understanding and interpretation of hybrid narrative microtexts.

In American ethnic literature of the last three decades of the 20th century, recurrent themes of mobility, travel, and “homing in” are emblematic of the search for identity. In this essay, which discusses three short stories, Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use,” Louise Erdrich’s “The World’s Greatest Fishermen,” and Daniel Chacon’s “The Biggest City in the World,” I attempt to demonstrate that as a consequence of technological development, with travel becoming increasingly accessible to ethnic Americans, their search for identity assumes (...) wider range, transcending national and cultural boundaries. (shrink)

Dentro de la historiografía centroamericana, el erotismo ha sido un tema que, en contraposición con otros como la reinterpretación del discurso histórico, no cuenta con una cantidad considerable de estudios comparativos que permitan comprender su desarrollo y sus diferentes acercamientos. Con este indicio, el artículo, en aras de enriquecer las discusiones académicas, se centra en dicha temática en cuentos centroamericanos escritos por mujeres, aspecto que en las últimas décadas ha venido tomando un lugar trascendental dentro de los estudios literarios. Específicamente, (...) el análisis parte de textos publicados en el presente siglo y que no han sido estudiados a profundidad por la crítica literaria: “La primera vez” (2002) de la costarricense Linda Berrón, “Diosas decadentes” (2001) de la guatemalteca Jessica Masaya Portocarrero y “Bicho raro” (2012) de la nicaragüense María del Carmen Pérez Cuadra. (shrink)

In this book, Steve Gronert Ellerhoff explores short stories by Ray Bradbury and Kurt Vonnegut, written between 1943 and 1968, with a post-Jungian approach. Drawing upon archetypal theories of myth from Joseph Campbell, James Hillman and their forbearer C. G. Jung, Ellerhoff demonstrates how short fiction follows archetypal patterns that can illuminate our understanding of the authors, their times, and their culture. In practice, a post-Jungian ‘mythodology’ is shown to yield great insights for the literary criticism of (...) short fiction. Chapters in this volume carefully contextualise and historicize each story, including Bradbury and Vonnegut’s earliest and most imaginatively fantastic works. The archetypal constellations shaping Vonnegut’s early works are shown to be war and fragmentation, while those in Bradbury’s are family and the wholeness of the sun. Analysis is complemented by the explored significance of illustrations that featured alongside the stories in their first publications. By uncovering the ways these popular writers redressed old myths in new tropes—and coined new narrative elements for hopes and fears born of their era—the book reveals a fresh method which can be applied to all imaginative short stories, increasing understanding and critical engagement. Post-Jungian Psychology and the Short Stories of Ray Bradbury and Kurt Vonnegut is an important text for a number of fields, from Jungian and Post-Jungian studies to short story theoriesand American studies to Bradbury and Vonnegut studies. Scholars and students of literature will come away with a renewed appreciation for an archetypal approach to criticism, while the book will also be of great interest to practising depth psychologists seeking to incorporate short stories into therapy. (shrink)

Philosophers of literature have neglected the short story. I argue that this neglect is unwarranted. The short story raises interesting philosophical questions that deserve attention. If philosophers only ever focused on one form of narrative prose—the novel—they would end up with a distorted picture of literature.

This paper is about W. Somerset Maugham’s short story The Taipan. I identify two ideas that the story seems to be based on, some related strengths, but also a slight weakness.

The collection includes five short stories that do not look to the past, to modernism. They do not entertain but defend the philosophical thinking. The reader notices she or he considers Stoic and Nietzschean human views and moral values and the nature of language. The short stories ask what the relationship between the language and the world is and what proper names mean, for instance. Everyone needs piece of mind.

The author analyses the problem of weak will in Leo Tolstoy’s story Father Sergius. She ponders why the protagonist, a man with such heightened awareness of good and evil, at some point in his life chooses evil. She places the problem of weak will (akrasia) first into the context of the various iterations of determinism and subsequently of the considerations raised by Socrates and Aristotle. As their answers are not fully applicable to the problem of Tolstoy’s titular character, she looks (...) for an explanation to Saint Augustine’s philosophy of free will. (shrink)

The article offers an alternative story about the structuralism in science, philosophy, and semiotics based on the exposition of Ch. S. Peirce’s philosophical project – pragmatism. Contemporary tendency to consider structuralism as naïve and dead, is put in contrast with the reassessment of the potential of structuralism in natural scien- ces and linguistic anthropology.

In this paper, I explore the connection between certain metaphysical views of time and emotional attitudes concerning one’s own death and mortality. I argue that one metaphysical view of time, B-theory, offers consolation to mortals in the face of death relative to commonsense and another metaphysical view of time, A-theory. Consolation comes from three places. First, B-theory implies that time does not really pass, and as a result one has less reason to worry about one’s time growing short. Second, (...) B-theory entails that there is a real sense in which one’s death does not result in one’s annihilation, and this fact can temper feelings of existential distress. Third, B-theory has the consequence that the benefits one has lost have concrete existence, and this fact can mitigate the emotional significance of the losses of death. (shrink)

This study examines feedback provided by an English teacher to Chilean secondary student texts, in the context of writing short stories collaboratively in an English as a foreign language class. The study aimed to analyze students’ decisions about the teacher’s types of feedback on their short stories. For this investigation, and under the context of qualitative research, there were analyzed 6 consecutive drafts of the students’ short stories, of a public high school in Chile. (...) This is a qualitative research with an action research design. The data collected was analyzed using Straub and Lunsford categories to describe the impact of the teacher’s written feedback on students’ decisions. In terms of students’ decisions, participant students adopted most of the teacher’s comments. The student’s texts evidenced progress, but still, regardless the feedback provided, they presented some grammatical and organizational issues. (shrink)

This article is about the problem of non-disclosure of an assumed method and approach to international law. That makes some real and current issues of international more difficult to grasp – and how to debate about something if there is a misunderstanding of the basics? The problem is depicted with two examples: the attitude of international law toward the statehood of Taiwan along with the on-going development of the Responsibility to Protect doctrine. Both reveal the clash between so-called black-letterism and (...) a policy-approach to international law. Meanwhile the doctrinal method is fully functional and mostly accepted in domestic law, though often contested in international law. But after all, international law being sui generis law is not just an instance of the domestic-type law which is the effect of particular features of the international community. (shrink)